27/09/2012 - Cyber attacks on business, governments and infrastructure are rising fast, costing the global economy billions of dollars each year. Boosting international co-operation to strengthen internet governance and ensure the continuing free flow of information over the Internet is essential.

Ministers, business leaders, Internet technical experts and civil society representatives from around the world will address these issues at the Budapest Conference on Cyberspace in Budapest, Hungary, on Thursday 4 and Friday 5 October 2012. This event is open to the media.

Speakers will include: Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary; William Hague, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom; Richard Boucher, OECD Deputy Secretary-General; Toomas Hendrik Ilves, President of the Republic of Estonia; Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union, Vice President of the EU Commission; Lynn St. Amour, President of the Internet Society; and high-level business executives from companies including AT&T, BT, Cisco Systems, Google, Huawei, Intel and Microsoft.

On the first day, the OECD will release its Internet Economy Outlook 2012, at 11.00 CET Thursday 4 October. This report analyses trends and developments in the Internet sector, as well as emerging technologies, e-health, digital content, security and privacy.